the democrats are showing no backbone by calling them out onyx. it is the american people being pulled into a tug of war. -- the the democrats are turning around and showing no backbone by calling them out on it. the tea party candidates are all just looking for an office. i'm the one suffering. my children car suffering. my students are suffering. host: the miami herald in florida -- here is a little of what the senator had to say. [video clip] >> mr. president, i don't want to oppose your plan because i want to protect the rich. i want to protect my neighbors, hard-working middle-class americans who don't need for us to have a plan to grow the government. they need a plan to grow the middle class. economic growth is the best way to help the middle class. our economy shrank during the last three months of 2012. if we can get the economy to grow at 4% per year, it would create middle-class jobs and would reduce our deficit by almost $4 trillion over the next decade. tax increases cannot do this. raising taxes will not create private-sector jobs. t